Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Neverender

If it's any consolation, I hate when I miss days. Not sure what happened yesterday—other than when I finished writing roughly 3,500 words on Kobe Bryant scoring 61 points against the Knicks I was sort of burned out. And it was snowing. Tonight I head back to the Garden to witness LeBron. And I'm sure I'll be writing something on that. The fun never stops.

It seems like winter never stops either. And while I'm not sure what Punxsutawney Phil said regarding the next couple of weeks, I'm guessing it wasn't good (and surprise, it wasn't). So here we are. Stuck in winter. Sometimes I feel like I should just climb into a Tauntaun until spring. It's reached the point where I have to make a point to look at my bike every so often just to make sure it hasn't crumbled to rust.

It's not exactly prime time for new product releases, either. Other than seats. Seats, seats and more seats. (Can someone explain to me what a "Lo-Bolt" is? Is it seriously just a shorter bolt?) See enough of this stuff, and you start to feel like you're just re-living the same day over and over again.

read this on some website:So, over on SPRFLS JPR let out that these days he’s spending most of his time designing “gay stuff like adult commuter bikes,”

then JPR commented on the same story that quoted him and had this to say:"I’m really excited about these commuters, especially from a personal standpoint. I’ve never even sat on one of the BMX completes."

First JPR, you obviously pay much closer attention to what I say than I do to you.

Second, you're absolutely right. I must be out of my mind as a consumer to expect a respected bike company to put a single brand name part on a $520 complete. Funny, for 30 bucks cheaper, Subrosa somehow manages to toss on a few of TSC parts and still stay in business. And no, in my opinion, "Nice" is not a brand name. "Nice" is a insult. The sprocket is a symbol; apparently you struggle with thinking in the abstract.

The Exocutioners have Odyssey pedals and KMC chains. The Heathens have Tioga tires. Depending on which model Marauder you get, you'll be getting either Tioga or TSC tires. The brakeless version comes with Animal pedals. Warlords have Sun rims and Fly tires.

Almost every complete bike is spec'd with some type of aftermarket part from another company. Do you really think the Shadow Conspiracy's stuff is much different than any other Taiwanese components coming out? That Wurlitzer sprocket was made in the US and it makes no sense to spec an American made part on a Taiwanese complete. We The People has a "Salt" line for their completes, so I suppose you're condemning them as well, huh?

I certainly apologize for speaking in generalities; I will be more specific in the following post. I failed to consult DansComp before making my comment (Not that anything recently from Tioga or a set of plastic Hamilton’s changes my view).

I was speaking directly to the fact that none of the FBM completes use any FBM parts. To dismiss the idea of putting an American made part (from a company who has built themselves on a small-time, made "right here at home" vibe) on a Taiwanese complete as not "making sense" to me is un-inspirational.

No, the Shadow Conspiracy's stuff is not different from another Taiwanese company except for the fact they are a company that have stood a relative test of time and hold respect within the BMX community. This is what separates them from the "Nice" and "Salt" brands of the world, which in my opinion are created solely to create the illusion that you are getting an upgrade that you really aren’t.

Fit completes in the same price range have a few Fit parts on them. Subrosa and TSC are nearly indistinguishable so they use their parts. Hell, Eastern uses Eastern parts, and DK uses DK parts. Regardless of any of this, when I made the original comment surrounding FBM's completes that JPR spoke of, I was implying that I feel that a company with the heritage of FBM would have been better served to stand out from the pack if they were going to toss their hat into the complete game. What is more SPRFLS than settling to be another drop in the sea of mediocrity?

josh, the fit parts on fit completes are made in taiwan. the eastern parts on eastern completes are made in taiwan. they aren't after market parts either. what you're saying make no sense. it's only branding. so the parts on fit's completes are branded fit, the parts on fbm's complete are branded nice, does that make the fit parts better somehow? if the nice parts said 'fbm' on them, would that make you happy?

Josh Says: "No, the Shadow Conspiracy's stuff is not different from another Taiwanese company except for the fact they are a company that have stood a relative test of time and hold respect within the BMX community."

No, the Fit parts such as the FAF tires and ECCD seat are not simply generic parts with Fit logos on them, so what I'm saying actually does make sense. Neither are Eastern's Stealth cranks or Medusa sprocket. These parts existed prior to when they were released on the Fit and Eastern completes and were sold on their own. Yes, the "Fit" bars and forks on the completes are just generics with added logos but that is not what (at least I) am speaking of.

I can accept the dishonest honesty of labeling generic components as Fit, or DK, or Stolen, etc. I just think that it is taking it to another level when a bike company expects me to feel as though they are doing me a solid by providing a "Nice Jenkem" stem on my new FBM complete.

You actually do a standout job of supporting my point. There is nothing special about "Nice" components; they are the same generics used on any number of other completes. FBM/Nice are the only company that I see that not only have the balls to name them something different, but then sell them online at the same cost as quality/proven alternatives. Example: on Dans you can get an S&M Redneck XLT for LESS THEN the Nice stem.

This may seem silly, but if the top of the line FBM complete instead had a Crown Royal stem, I wouldn't even have this argument.

JPR has done for BMX what Rick Rubin has done for Hip Hop. Ok, not exactly but he's done more for it than anyone talking shit about him on the internet. When I was 13 I had a photo of him and the rest of the P.O.W.'s on my wall.

“First JPR, you obviously pay much closer attention to what I say than I do to you.

Second, you're absolutely right. I must be out of my mind as a consumer to expect a respected bike company to put a single brand name part on a $520 complete. Funny, for 30 bucks cheaper, Subrosa somehow manages to toss on a few of TSC parts and still stay in business. And no, in my opinion, "Nice" is not a brand name. "Nice" is a insult. The sprocket is a symbol; apparently you struggle with thinking in the abstract.”

Your statement was about the company I work for and the project I work on, it was ridiculous, making it easy to remember. Subrosa frame, fork and bars are manufactured in China, the bikes are assembled there as well. The cost reduction at retail ends up being around 5-7% over Taiwan manufacturing and assembly. Nice is, in reality, a brand. To spec an American made sprocket on a $500 complete bike would take sacrifices, the most likely being a hi-ten or maybe, maybe a tri-moly frame. Even funnier than Subrosa spec’ing TSC parts is FBM spec’ing them as well on a comparable bike. To add, yes, you are out of your mind. To me having an American made sprocket on a $500 complete would symbolize I was the worst product manager on the planet.

you could have done what GT used to do and have a foreign made imitation spec'd on the completes but never let the customers know there are two versions. most customers never knew the difference, thought they were getting high-end U.S. made parts on $200. completes, most never had problems with the sub-par quality and GT never got heat for it. hell, their 1980's Taiwanese parts are still going for a decent price to all those old school restoration kooks that can't quite afford the U.S. counterpart. but i suppose you want to be little Mr. Integrity and tell your customers the truth over there, huh. Gary Turner would never approve of that.

MISSION STATEMENT

In a world where every new BMX "innovation" is met at best with praise and at worst with a shrug, there needs to be a voice of dissent. SPRFLS is that voice. Make no mistake—we welcome progress, provided it actually IS progress. You are not the width of your handlebars.

Feel free to e-mail suggestions, corrections, tips or death threats to sprfls@gmail.com

Even more pointless (and sometimes entirely un-BMX-related) twittering at http://twitter.com/SPRFLS and http://twitter.com/russbengtson